Before earning his PhD from Yale University, Tendai worked as an auditor and accountant in New York, and earned his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and master’s from the University of Virginia. He is a New York-licensed CPA, and a CFA charterholder.
Expertise
My research interests are in firm disclosures, ESG and sustainability matters, and firm governance.
Education
PhD in Accounting, Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA, I investigate the relation between increased investor relations (IR) activities and four ESG outcomes: coverage by ESG rating agencies, ESG rating levels, the stock market response to bad ESG news, and the use of ESG-related terms in earnings conference calls. Firms with more IR activities—indicated by an IR Officer’s (IRO) presence on conference calls—could improve communication about ESG efforts with investors and ESG rating agencies, and feedback received might even increase the level of ESG efforts. I find that firms with IR prominence (1) are more likely to be covered by ESG raters; (2) experience an increase in overall, E, S, and G ratings; (3) exhibit a substantial reduction in the negative stock market impact of negative ESG news, with this effect being concentrated among smaller firms and firms with more institutional ownership; and (4) do not use more ESG-related terms in conference calls. Focusing on climate change related bigrams (Sautner et al. 2023), I find results consistent with a positive association between IR prominence and the relative frequency of (1) climate change bigrams; (2) climate change bigrams appearing in the same sentences as positive tone words; and (3) bigrams related to climate change technological opportunities appearing in the same sentence as positive tone words in earnings conference call transcripts. These results suggest that IROs encourage management to discuss specific climate change issues and opportunities in more positive terms. A small survey of IROs provides anecdotal evidence that IR plays an important role in ESG reporting and communication., 2024-05-20 Master of Science in Accounting, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA, 2008-08-12 Bachelor of Science in Accounting & Finance, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY, USA, 2007-05-20
Courses Taught
ACCTG 472 – Int Fin Acctg II
Off-balance-sheet financing; special issues in cost capitalization, liabilities, and equities; matching; funds flow statements; statement analysis; inflation accounting.